What does the Lord require of you--but to do justice,and to love kindnessand to walk humbly with your God?(Micah 6:8)

21 July 2011

mission!

Jesus, early in his ministry, found this passage in Isaiah and spoke it to a full synagogue in his hometown:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

and the day of vengence of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion--

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may display his beauty.

They shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devestations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

I read this and I wonder why we talk more about apologetics, the four spiritual laws, a wordless book and the Romans road than this. The tools are fine, but.... What if we started our ministry/mission/evangelism/neighboring/friendships/churches/marriages/whatever with the power, anointing, discernment, meaning, grace that Jesus proclaimed?

These words are truth for us--we are those who have been poor, borkenhearted, captive, bound, blind, mourning, covered in ashes and faint. And too often I find myself returning to these places--frustrated, exhausted, disillusioned, broken, paralyzed, trapped, worried, ashamed, worn out. These are all words I use to describe myself. A few days ago, David and I made a deal to proclaim life and liberty and good news to each other. I long to learn and practice to be able to speak the gospel into every kind of situation--to myself and to others (Christians and non-Christians). These things are so hard to grasp alone and I feel like I need to be trained to see and speak them.

Look at the proclamations:good newsliberty opening of prison/recovery of sightGod's favor and God's vengence (both!)

Look at the gifts:binding up of heartscomfortbeautiful headdressesoil of gladnessgarments of praise

And--how hopeful!--look at who these things are for:the poorthe brokenheartedthe captivesthose who are bound/blindthose who mourn, hold ashes, are of a faint spirit

Look at the results:That they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.They shall build up the ancient ruins;they shall raise up the former devastations;they shall repair the ruined cities,the devastations of many generations.

Wow! This is how I want to be, how I want to live, how I want to speak, how I want to give.

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here we are!

currently...

playing with a little girl

making good food

celebrating Advent

growing in faithfulness

almost six years!

working hard, resting hard

Christmas break

in the end

I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage…that in the world’s finale at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they’ve shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify what has happened. (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)